The Festival of Light
by Dax Rattler
Summary: Trotington Village always prided itself on it's annual dedication to the Night Goddess.   This story acts as a prequel Bleach: The Equestria Arc but is written to stand alone, Enjoy some nice Luna fluff.


Friendship...Friendship never changes :Fallout Equestria

Trotington village Outskirts

"What do you mean you are throwing me out!" yelled a gaudily dressed cyan pegasus with bleached mane.

"Ah mean ima throwing you out, wat's the matter? can't turn that ol' silver tongue o' yours?" spoke a somewhat bored looking earth pony, his light brown coat and blond mane contrasting with bright red cow-pony hat and saddle bags. leaning against the inside of the towns gate, his words carried a little more weight with the black handle of a bull whip resting on his lips and a large yellow unicorn with a light brown mane and a greasy cog cutie mark backing him up.

"You can not do that! who gave you the authority? I will have you know the princess herself! Celestia is expecting me to be here at this festival! Why my fireworks are the pride of Cloudsdale!

"Don't see how since all y'all one's weren't worth nuthing the earth pony spoke with a raised eyebrow "And for the record, ah gave myself the authority, names Whistler and I help run things orderly like 'round here" he said " in case you be thinking I ain't got the right to be appointing mah'self, ya might like to take a gander at mah cutie mark" he spoke indicating the sheriff star and whip on his flank "I reckon the goddesses dem selves put me here on this great world to keep puff-up's like ur'self out the way o' decent folk like us" The massive yellow unicorn taking step forward at that last comment, snorting in disgust.

"How dare you sir!" lifting off a little the overly dressed pegasus backed off eyes narrowing "and how do you two _ground pounders_ intend to stop me exactly?" he sneered the added hight seemingly boosting his confidence.

"I was hoping ya would say sumthing like that" quicker then the pegasus could respond the whip lashed out with a crack wrapping around the front hooves the the startled pegasus, with a quick yank off the handle the flyer found himself in a large muddy ditch on the side of the road. "In these here parts in pays ta be polite like, 'specialy when we got royalty comin to town and all, so you better just get to fly'in or me and mah boy Rusty here will be making sure you can't fly, you understand me boy?"

Gulping down his fear, the pegasus gave a quick nod and took off into the air, flying away as fast as his wings could take him.

Sparing the conpony a brief look of contempt, Whistler turned around with a sigh and started to walk back inside the bustling village, giving his silent companion a sideways look he began to speak "ain't like normal is it, ah swear we got turned around som'where cause this 'ere ain't my town right now" he said softly.

Raising a eyebrow at his friend Rusty snorted in derision "it's good for the town and you know it Whistler, how many places this small can claim a visit from royalty?" he questioned as the two of them awkwardly manoeuvred into the crowd filled streets "The way I see it, we have been holding this festival for a thousand years since Luna was banished and now we finally get the big pay off, to put on the show for Luna in person, there ain't a better way to show her how much we missed her"

"cept everydang place is making like us now wit' their own shows" muttered Whistler, giving a team of street clowns a particular hard look.

"And she's coming here, of all the place's trying to steal the limelight! she's coming here, maybe she really could see our festival on the moon" Rusty tried to reason.

Whistler smiled at his companion reassuringly "ah know ah know Rusty, it just gets mah goat that now our homes getting som'thing good we gotta deal with all these outsider's is all" he said looking around lost "and so dang many o' em ain't trying ta do nut'ing but skin some folk, ain't caring bout tha Princess at all." he shook his head sadly "ah had to deputise half tha town just ta keep up!"

Rusty looked down at the brown earth pony "it's only for a day or two more, after tonight we can relax" again he tried to assure.

"You can't talk ta me 'bout relaxing, ah seen how Thistlesongs got ya running 'round" Whistler spoke amusedly "Why have you even had more then 10 winks sleep? seems your wife is 'bout the most unrelaxed person in this whole dang mess"

"She's sure excited about it that's for sure, but she's in charge of the fire works after all, it would be real bad to fluff up things for the first time in 1000 years, specially since we have princess Luna coming here now" Rusty commented with a hint of amusement

"'Lest she don't have ta stay wit her during tha ceremony, ah know ah just gonna make a right fool of mah'self during the welcoming"

"Thistlesong would love to serve her, won't stop talking about her since she got back, every night she's reading Sunny some new story about her" Rusty corrected his friend amusedly "If I was the paranoid type I would say she's gone lesmareian for her"

"What's the matter rusty ya reckon tha princess is gonna steal 'er away from ya?" Whistler teased

"Hahaha...Yeah real funny" finished a somewhat alarmed Rusty.

Whistler just shook his head, even after all this time and with a beautiful little girl Rusty was still worried that Thistlesong was going to find a better deal and move on, it was almost sweet if it wasn't so stupid, he was about to tell him so when Candy Wrapper came running up.

"Boss! Boss! we got a situation in the square! some jarhoof is trying to use the Princess private seat as an auction block!"

"Goddess damn tourists! can't get em ta pay attention ta any rules or nuthing" growled Whistler.

Chuckling loudly the large unicorn turned off to his left "I'm gonna leave ya to it mister Boss man" he teased "I gotta get home and make sure she hasn't started packing her clothes" he finished with a wink.

"Ah'm gonna deputize ya in a minute Rusty then ya can deal wit all this hayseed" whistler called out as he walked off. "Cya at tha ceremony!"

Rusty waved him off and slowly made his way back home through the crowd.

Arriving home a short while later, he saw a team of earth pony's carting off the last of the fireworks from the back of their home turned shop-front, making his way inside he was treated to the site of a beautiful light blue unicorn, who was slowly tearing her own yellow mane out in frustration as she tried to get a light yellow filly to cooperate.

"I all ready have a tail, why do I need one on my head!" whined the young filly clearly unimpressed with her mothers choice of style for her orange mane

"Because it looks pretty and you do want to look your best tonight for the princess right?" she tried to reason.

The tiny yellow ball of anger blew a rasberry at the concept "I don't look cool! I look stupid! everypony is gonna call me flank face cause I got a tail sticking out the back of it!" she again whined stamping her hooves in frustration.

'Out of the mouths of babes' was all Rusty could think as he made his way over to the squabbling pair. "Now now Sunsnap your gonna wear your hair like your mum wants, tonight's extra special and we don't want to make her look bad now do we?" he said giving his mate a nuzzle.

" Buuuttt Paaaaa..."

"No buts! or I'll put wire in it and you can wear it as a permanent feature" he spoke with finality. "now go get those pretty slippers on, the ones that we picked out yesterday"

Screaming inside her mouth in frustration Sunsnap stomped loudly up the stairs to the house above the shop. Thistlesong gave her husband a relieved smile as she leaned against him.

"Thank you for that, she's been so stroppy today, I swear she nearly threw a temper tantrum over breakfast"

"Well she hasn't got much sleep in the last few days with all the work going on in town, I imagine she'll pass out before the end of the night"

" I'm sorry I've been keeping the both of you up" she said sadly "There's just so much to get organised, not to mention all the tourists wanting to set up there own fireworks on top of ours, this whole thing is a nightmare"

"Not that you would let that stop you" he spoke reassuringly "you couldn't possibly look bad in front of your future wife" he spoke teasingly, poking fun at her near school filly crush.

Blushing a deep purple colour she pulled away from him and stuck her tongue out "Your just jealous"

"Maybe a little' he admitted stepping toward her " She's already taken up so much of your time as it is, can you blame me?

Looking up at him coyly she smiled "Maybe you should work a little harder then?"

"Maybe I should" he spoke backing her against the counter.

"I got the slipper's on an...EEEEWWWWW!" the little filly cried from the stairs "Can't you two do that icky stuff when I'm not home?"

"Oh hush now we weren't doing anything" Thistlesong spoke making her way over to their daughter to straighten her hair up one last time.

"Uh huh" Sunsnap said disbelieving "I'm going to go play with Hopscotch"

"You will do no such thing, not after we only just got your hair sorted, your going to draw quietly for 20 mins till me and Pa are sorted then we are going to head off as a family.

"Aww but we were going to see all the new caravans before they closed up for the ceremony"

"No buts I'm your mother and that's an order"

"Awwww" Sunsnap sulked as she walked off the the back kitchen.

30 minutes later a freshly showered Rusty just straightening his own mane out while he waited for his wife to perfect herself. "Honey! Sunny's about to burn the house down in frustration. time to go"

"Just 5 more tics"

"You said that 5 minutes ago if you jus..." what ever was to follow was lost as he finally caught site of his wife coming down the stairs.

She had tied her mane up into a bun on top of her head with a simple teal flower arranged at each ear, a silver strap wrapped around her neck repeatedly leading into a dress so gauzy it might as well have not been there, the dress it's self was a simple affair having only the barest of fabric actually present, It did not cover her front allowing some simple silver stockings to present her forward portrait and it didn't go over her tail but rather down her back legs next to it, teal highlights flowing through the whole thing. she looked marvellous and Rusty couldn't help but feel a little alarmed. 'There ain't no way I'm leaving her alone with any pony!' he thought possessively

Thistlesongs expression was smug as she sashayed up to her husband before asking innocently with wide eye's"Do you think princess Luna will like it?"

'Not one damn pony!, Princess included!' he swore in the back of his mind.

"wow mommy! you look so...Why don't you have to have a tail!" Sunsnap questioned interrupting Rusty s rapidly derailing train of thought.

Laughing lightly Thistlesong began to bustle them out the door "because I'm mommy and I make the rules"

"That don't seem fair to me" grumbled Sunsnap.

"Ohh it's not that bad and you look beautiful honey, though maybe I should have gone with the twin braids" she said biting her lower lip in thought as her horn began to glow.

"You both look amazing" interrupted Rusty having regained his thoughts "Lets not spend the next half hour in the street rearranging manes, it's still light out so lets go enjoy some of the festival before mom has to put on her show" nodding their heads in agreement the family made it's way to the the town square were all the stalls and shows were.

The walk was something of an adventure for Sunsnap, never having the opportunity to see all the sites and sounds before, obstacle course for pegasus to fly in with stunt shows nearby, strength competitions like tug of war and levitation weights for unicorns, engineering shows caught Rusty s attention and target practice stalls had even had Thistlesong interested, Sunsnap seemed to be a blur running from clown act to puppet show to magic act and every sweet stall in between, unable to contain her glee.

Somewhere along the way Sunsnap met up with Hopscotch which surprised Rusty a little knowing that her family was more on the poor side and could not afford much of anything on display, the little brown filly had streamers coming from her glasses for dress up and a black pointy hat that she got from one of the magic acts as a gift (some great and powerful Twixy? or something). between the two of them Thistlesong and Rusty were running out of bits but It was nice to spoil their daughter and friend, It was just starting to approach dusk by the time the two ran them selves out of energy, spending the rest of the time on Rusty s back as he carried them from show to show, even meeting up with hopscotch's parents (busy working the area, keeping it clean for extra bits).

Suddenly the sound of the town bell told everypony it was time for the welcoming ceremony, Thistlesong politely excused herself and quickly went to set up the festival show while Rusty and Hopscotch's parents made their way to the stage that had been set up, the landing platform above it drawing the most attention.

It wasn't long before a couple of wings of royal guards could be seen on approach escorting a beautiful golden carriage, gasps of excitement echoed among the crowd all eager to have a look at such a fine looking chariot , as the carriage pulled in for a landing the crowd became quite, whistler moved to stand on the landing platform at the end of a red carpet dressed in his finest red and black leather jacket, bull whip nowhere to be seen and nervous as hell if Rusty was reading him correctly.

The carriage door gently opened and the crowed took a collective gasp as Princess Celestia stepped out. she was of course perfect, tall with a ivory white coat ethereal mane flowing on some divine wind around her and the most regal and wise expression on her face, Rusty felt himself near unconsciously take a step back and bow along with the crowd while on the carpet and bowing only a little awkwardly whistler spoke up.

"Howdy Ma'am, it is mah pleasure I assure you ta welcome ya to Trotington village" he said simply

Rusty could barely contain his mirth, typical whistler, even with weeks to prepare he couldn't come up with a speech in time.

"Thank you for your gracious welcome Sheriff Whistler, you may rise," looking up she turned her voice outward filling the whole area "You may all rise, I am most honored to be here tonight, for this years Festival of Light!" pausing a beat to make sure everyone had stopped bowing she continued on "while I would normally start into some long winded speech right now"the crowd chuckling at that comment "I know it's not me that you are here to celebrate,therefore, it is my honor, to present, the Goddess of the Night, Princess Luna!" taking a step to the side she indicated with a wing the carriage door. slowly stepping out the first thing he noticed was she was smaller then celestia, with a deep purple coat and dark blue mane the night goddess seemed more nervous then then the whole village combined, taking a few steps forward towards the near silent crowd she spoke up "Hello everypony it is a honor to be here"

The deafening roar of approval the crowd let lose could have been heard all the way back in Canterlot Rusty reckoned, and the princess almost looked like she was going to hide in the carriage till a chant took up in the mob

"LUNA! LUNA! LUNA!"

Looking back at her sister with tears in her eyes Whistler couldn't help but be moved and pulled a scarf out to hand the princess, while she dabbed her eye's Celestia once again stepped forward "Forgive me one moment everypony but I do believe there is one piece of business to attend to first"turning to face her sister she nodded, Luna nodded in understanding and quickly stepped forward to face the east Celestia turned westward and slowly her horn began to glow. Rusty saw the last glimmers of sunlight fade from the sky then as everypony looked at her expectantly Luna bowed her head and her own horn began to glow, slowly the dark sky was lit up as the moon in all her glory began her rise into the night.

Finished with their tasks the two princesses turned back to the crowd, once again to be meet with thunderous approval. taking that as her cue Thistlesong slowly walked onto the stage. bowing to the two princesses she turned to face the crowd. amplify her voice with her horn she began.

"We all know the story of The Mare in the Moon, but I don't think everypony here knows the history of this festival and what it stands for" taking a deep breath she plunged on "1000 years ago Princess Luna was banished, lost to us because our own fault"Luna looked startled at that comment "yes we know the story of nightmare moon how she sought to create eternal night , but how many know why? why she sought to take away the day...It was us. our ancestors shunned the night and it's beautiful goddess, showing no appreciation they abandoned her temples and alters turning all their attention the the sun alone. 1000 years ago there was a betrayal. a betrayal by our people! and because of that princess Luna was lost to us"

looking down and pausing for a moment to let those words sink in she seemed to shiver "1000 years ago our ancestors realized too late their folly, but . in! so to make sure that this never happens again that organised a Festival, a Festival of Lights! that would be held ever year on that day to remind everypony what we have lost and how we must make amends to get it back! turning with a bow Thistlesong looked directly at the princess her words began to pick up speed. "Princess Luna this festival is not for good Harvests or season changes, it's not about how long or short the day is. it's not for blessings for our children or favor in our endeavors and it's not about ancient stories of loss and sadness. It's about you!. about what you mean to us as a people! how lucky we are to have you!. it's about the beautiful night you bring us so we can rest and our dreams that you watch over!, it is about the blessed goddess of the night and how much we love her! and welcome her back into our lives!" tears in her eye she could barely finish, but taking a deep breath she looked up and shouted "long live the night goddess!"

"LONG LIVE THE NIGHT GODDESS!" came the echoing reply from the crowd. as the cheer rose up fireworks began to launch from all around town and the rippling display of colour begun to fill the sky.

Princess Luna seemed to by at a loss, standing there stock still with tears running down her face, Celestia at her side with a comforting hoof murmuring into her ear while her own tears flowed. Luna leaned to her side and gave Celestia a quick nuzzle before stepping forward towards Thistlesong who was bowing on the spot head lowered eyes streaming, leaning down she whispered something to the young mare before raising her back up with a hoof.

nodding back at the princess, Thistlesong turned back to the celebrating masses "now lets get the party started!" she shouted as music began to play from speakers lining the square, a white unicorn with two tone blue hair and goggles expertly manipulating the crowd with her art, soon the festival was in full swing, constant fireworks going of in the night sky the result of a years worth of stockpiling, most of the youngster were manoeuvred out of the dance area by wise parents to several two story buildings that dedicated their roof levels as viewing platforms for the show.

Rusty made his way to the top of one of these buildings much to the protest of the two young filly's on his back who wanted to stay in the dance party. their complaints ending when they got to the roof and saw the fireworks uninterrupted, with the loud music thumping below from the square and the crackle and boom of the fireworks Rusty almost missed the gasps of shock around him, turning his head to see what could possible have drawn attention away from the spectacle he was treated to the sight of Princess Luna herself walking up to him alongside his wife.

Rusty didn't like to think ill of people lest of all the Princesses but he had to admit his paranoia had returned to the back of his head at the site of the two of them, the Princess was radiant, teal eye's almost glowing he swore and Thistlesong was practically hanging on every word. they looked good together he head to admit before he could help himself, he felt the heat in his cheeks as he squashed that thought to the back of his mind and focused on the kids, enraptured by the show on his back he had to give them a shake, startled they both looked at him confusedly before he motioned behind him.

The squeals of delight could compete with the music and fireworks he thought wryly while he massaged his ear, the filly's all but launching from his back to go to Thistlesong and the Princess, turning and walking towards them he happily noted that his wife hadn't been completely lost to fan girl mode and was introducing the two children to their Princess.

"I love those streamers Hopscotch, and your mane is beautiful Sunsnap, I will admit I haven't seen any pony wear that style since...a long time ago, it was one of my favourites" The princess spoke politely.

"Yeah it's my favorite to!" replied Sunny earning a look of amusement between both parents

"And you must be Rusty, your wife has not stopped talking about you" The Princess said with a smile.

"Your majesty" Rusty said politely with a bow "It is a pleasure to have your company"

"Please just Luna, I still haven't gotten used to the titles just yet I'm afraid" she said softly awkwardly rubbing the back of her head, "I've only been back for a few months, so I'm still trying to adjust to everypony, and this festival! it's all so grand!" wonder creeping into her voice at the end.

"I was telling the truth before, it really is all for you" Thistlesong spoke up, sincerity shinning in her eyes.

"Your going to have to forgive my wife, I'm afraid she's gone lesmareian for ya" rusty said with amusement, unable to resist a little light teasing at her conviction.

Thistlesong practically froze on the spot , blushing deeply and looking like she wanted the ground to swallow her up right then and there, or kill her husband either way.

"hehehe" Luna's giggling soft and sweet to their ears "ohh that's not to objectionable" she spoke giving Thistlesong a sideways glance, managing to make both her and rusty blush a little

"lesmareian?" Sunny spoke up next to hopscotch.

Blinking rapidly the three adults all turned their attention downwards at the seemingly forgotten filly's "Ahhh Pa will explain that one to you later" Thistle said, giving him a smug look "Right now lets go enjoy the kite lantern show, it almost about to start"

"OK" the two said in unison running down the stairs to the park where it was being held.

"You deserved that and you know it" spoke Thistlesong.

" yeah probably, but you can't blame me when she starts giving you weird looks, also" he started turning to Luna "it's completely true"

Again giggling lightly she spoke "and like I said, it's not to objectionable" giving them both a smouldering look, "too bad I can't stay the night" a soft sigh escaping her lips.

Rusty felt his mouth dry up and could practically fell his wife humming with energy next to him, quickly trying to steer the conversation back to normal he spoke the first thing that came to his head "Why can't you stay the night? "wincing with embarrassment almost immediately, Thistlesong fixed him a look of shock, and he new he was gonna hear it when he got home.

Grinning at his obvious discomfort, Luna begun to speak "politics, every time me and my sister leave the castle some of our ministers start to believe they can actually run things without supervision" she said disgustedly "don't know what happened in the last 1000 years but all the bureaucracy has gone up by the same amount, while the combined intellect has hit rock bottom, sometimes I'm amazed there was a kingdom to comeback too"

"At least stay till the fireworks are over" Thistlesong requested "everypony put so much effort into it, they want you to know how much they care and how happy we are that you have returned to us"

smiling she nodded in agreement "I know, I can feel it" looking around at the ceremony, the dancing, the fireworks she smiled "maybe if I had just one of these back then..."

Thistlesong took a step forward and in a remarkable show of confidence gave the princess a reassuring nuzzle "Welcome home Luna...from all of us"

turning into the small mare she sighed contentedly "Thank you, both of you, this has been a wonderful night"

"Indeed it has dear sister" spoke a voice from behind Rusty.

Swallowing nervously Rusty turned around to face none other then the sun goddess herself "...Ma'am" he managed to almost squeak out "It is a pleasure to meet you"

"The pleasure is mine, after my sister didn't return to me I simply had to come see what was so important, plus It gave my an excuse to leave your poor sheriff in peace, that colt is just about beside himself with stress"

"Yeah that sounds about right, he was worried about not being able to please you and your sister".

"He admitted as much, unfortunately when I made a light hearted suggestion on how he could, he all but collapsed!" she spoke with mild shock "I confess I don't have that reaction often"

Rusty blinked, once again his mouth going dry "Well now I know where Luna gets it from"

"Ohhh?" Celestia said giving Luna a curious look.

Blushing a little Luna stepped back from Thistlesong "It's nothing sister, just some harmless banter"

"Oh...pity"

Rusty once again wanted to be elsewhere with this conversation, "Well we should really go catch up with the children, shall we make our way to the park?"

"Unfortunately this is where we have to leave you" Celestia spoke up giving Luna an apologetic look "Our night here won't last much longer and Luna really needs to work some of the crowd before we leave, she can't spend the whole night up here"

"I know sis it's just..."

"I understand but courtesy needs to be meet, these two were not the only pony's looking forward to seeing you, besides you always come back tomorrow if you wanted to stay...for a night or two, I don't mind holding the fort in canterlot" she finished with a wink.

"TIA!" Luna gasped while blushing and Rusty couldn't help but wonder why she got embarrassed around her sister by such comments, Thistlesong looked mildly hopeful.

"Well of we go then" Celestia finished launching into the sky with grace, Luna giving a polite if blushing nod before taking off after her.

A moment passed and both Thistlesong and Rusty let out breaths they didn't know they were holding. "Well...That was interesting"

"Yes...interesting"

"Lest now you can say you meet her"

"And at least now you can explain that lesmareian comment to Sunny"

'Damn' he hoped to himself that maybe she had forgotten, what with Luna clouding up her higher brain functions.

The kites were almost burnt out by the time they tracked down the children in the park, they had joined up with the other kids their age and were running around finding the kites as they burnt out and came down, satisfied they were out of harms way they left them to their games.

Making them selves at home on top of a small hill, they sat there and watched the last of Thistlesongs fireworks.

"This was an amazing night" she said softly

"Yeah it was, but then I had the best company the whole time"he joined in.

"Ohh?" Thistlesong looked at him demurely "did you mean me or the princess"

"Hmmm? I meant Sunny and hopscotch" Thistlesong laughed pleasantly "Those two can party like noponys business"

"Uh huh I'm sure you did" she said while poking him in the side "anything else?"

"Well I did get to meet Princess Celestia, she seemed pretty interesting, real easy to talk to you know?"

"Oh...you" playfully she begun to punch him in the side.

Laughing he grabbed her around the body and pulled her into him "I also got to perve on this really hot show mare and her night goddess girlfriend"

"You wish" she finished happily.

"Yeah maybe, do you think we should leave a light on tomorrow?"

Thistlesong just laughed and snuggled up to Rusty content that this was the best life she could wish for and nothing could take it away from them.

Fin

Authors Note: This story is the result of me writing about 3 pages of back story for Trotington village in my bleach/MLP:FIM crossover before realising I ain't going to use even half of it:P so enjoy what I managed to warp it into. consider it a prequel to Bleach The Equestria Arc if you will but since it has no bleach elements except maybe one Easter egg I'm gonna leave it separate. Also I'm hell rusty at writing remember this.

Alternate/maybe/more then likely ending:

Placing the last of the stock on the shelf rusty closed up the shop for the night, with the festival over they had to get to work on building up their stocks again for business, quite a few out of towners expressed and interest in Thistlesongs fireworks

Suddenly there was a Knock at the door, frowning Rusty wondered who could be here at this hour, it had been a long day of recovery and the sun had long gone to rest. he figured everpony else would be doing the same.

"Who is it" asked Thistlesong form the counter equally as confused as he was.

"It's umm Selene" called back a shy voice that sounded eerily familiar

"hang on a moment" he spoke as he went to the door, opening it he spoke up "sorry were closed..right...now" he trailed off

"Honey who is it?" Thistlesong called as she walked up "hello were sor..." her voice faltering as she saw the impish smile staring back at them.

"And to think Celestia thought you wouldn't recognize me"

Fin (really)


End file.
